Syria's "Rising Self-Confidence" Triggers Fears at Bush's Admin
Zionism is a cancer
8/14/2006 11:30:00 AM GMT
Recently in The Jerusalem Post, Barry Rubin, director of the Global
Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and Senior Fellow of
FPRI, and co-author, with Judith Colp Rubin, of the just-published book
Hating America: A History (Oxford University Press), stated an
important and worth- mentioning point about the recent developments in
the Middle East, arguing that Syria and Iran, whom he said have paid no
price for backing the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah against
the Israeli army in the recent escalation, have gained significantly in
the eyes of the Arab nations and the Middle East countries, as well as
their own nations, for having supplied the resistance movement with the
needed money and weaponry that inflicted serious damages to the
Israelis.
A recent editorial on Israel's leading newspaper, Haaretz, noted that
the Bush's administration is currently concerned about remarks by
senior Defense Department official about the "rise in Syria's
self-confidence".
Speaking to Haaretz, the official voiced frustration over the failure
of the U.S., Israel and the international community to persuade Syrian
President Bashar Al Assad to change his policy- supporting Hezbollah in
particular, attributing this failure to the fact that "thus far, no
real pressure has been applied to Syria by any of the parties."
The official described Syria's rising self-confidence as "a problem for
everyone," claiming that the Int'l community had missed many chances
where it could have influenced Syria, "but they were missed."
The U.S. Department of Defense acknowledged that Syria's role in the
current conflict in Lebanon is evidence of its rising influence and
power, which raises concerns at the Bush administration, which
considers last year's withdrawal of the Syrian troops from Lebanon a
significant achievement.
The American President has repeatedly claimed that Syria was a
destabilizing force in the Middle East, accusing it of harboring
members of Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements, which he
chooses to describe as "terrorist organisations."
And lately, in the wake of the conflict that broke out in Palestine and
then Lebanon, the Bush administration has come under increasing
pressure from former senior officials, media pundits and allied
diplomats to engage in diplomatic talks with Damascus.
The U.S. decided six months ago to withdraw its ambassador to Damascus
and has not yet returned him, signaling that it's not ready yet to
have dialogue with Syria, and thus is not willing to involve Damascus
in the Lebanese crisis unless the Syrian government bows to its demands
and changes, otherwise, in the words of a senior administration
official, it "would be an open invitation to the Syrians to resume
interfering in events in Lebanon."
http://islamonline.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=12265